Mac Brunson Speaking @ Wednesdays in the Word Tonight

Our Wednesdays in the Word series continues tonight at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church.

Over the past three weeks, we have been greatly enriched by the ministry of the word from Marcus Cosby, Kerwin Lee, and Arthur Jackson III.

Tonight, we are privileged to have as our guest speaker, Dr. Mac Brunson, Senior Pastor of the historic First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida.

We are neighbors with First Baptist, with only six blocks separating us. And Pastor Brunson has been both kind and encouraging to me, since my arrival in Jacksonville.

I am honored to have him as our guest tonight. Dr. Brunson is a sound, faithful, and powerful proclaimer of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. You do not want to miss hearing this man of God proclaim the word tonight!

If you are in the Jacksonville area – and you are without a church home or your church does not have a previously scheduled meeting – please join us for worship tonight at Shiloh at 7 PM.

You can also watch the service online at www.smbcjax.com or www.streamingfaith.com

All-Night Prayer Meeting Tonight at Shiloh

This is Prayer Emphasis Week at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church.

We are climaxing it with an All-Night Prayer Meeting. It begins tonight at 10 PM and will last through 6 AM.

The Psalms frequently mention praying to God in the night watches. Jesus spent all night seeking the will of the Father. Throughout church history, devout Christians have set times where they have sacrificed sleep for prayer.

We are gathering as a church family for a night of prayer to call on God for a special work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We are also asking for the favor of the Lord on our church and revival in our city and nation.

Each member is asked to spend at least one hour to join nus for this tie of prayer, praise, fellowship, study, and meditation.

Childcare will be available. Breakfast will be served when we conclude at 6 AM.

Join us.

Pray for us. 

Christmas Concert Tonight at Shiloh

Tonight at 7 PM, the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville will host our music department's annual Christmas Concert.

Our Worship and Arts Department is under the capable hands of Dr. Roger Sears.

Our Mass Choir, Forgiven Ensemble, Children and Youth Choir, and Praise Dance Team will all be performing tonight.

It will be a great celebration of the miraculous birth and redemptive work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If you live in the Jacksonville area - and your local church does not have a meeting scheduled - joins us for this special time of worship. Or watch it online at www.smbcjax.com

Thanksgiving Day Service @ Shiloh

There will not be a Midweek Worship Service at Shiloh this evening.

We will meet in the morning for a special Thanksgiving Day Service at 9 AM in our Coleman Auditorium.

Start your holiday be joining us for corporate worship. God is the source every good gift and perfect gift. And he is worthy to be praised for all of his undeserved benefits toward us.

Hope to see you there!

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)

Notes from Sunday - 09/04/11

What a great day of worship at Shiloh!

I love the Lord Jesus Christ! I love the word of God! And I love the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church!

I led a Q&A session during our Bible Study Fellowship hour today. I had a great time teaching my congregation in dialogue.

We had a special time of worship and fellowship during our Lord’s Supper observance today.

I am grateful for all of the guests who were in worship with us today, including friends from Detroit and the Williams family reunion.

God be praised for all our volunteers who served today.

The choir sung one of my throwback favorites – God Will Take Care Of You (by Edwin Hawkins).

I initiated a corporate scripture memorization program for our church today. We will use the Fighter Verses established by the Bethlehem Baptist Church of Minneapolis. I pray the Lord uses our commitment to memorize scripture to cause us to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I preached on “Spiritual Warfare through Scripture Memorization,” using Ephesians 6:17b as by base scripture.

I gave the church five basic reasons why we should practice the spiritual discipline of scripture memorization:

1. It will draw you closer to God.
2. It will lead you to spiritual victory.
3. It will strengthen your prayer life.
4. It will make you a better witness for Christ.
5. It will equip you to minister to others.

Pulpit monitors: 2 – HBC2: 0. The loser gets a sore throat.

Praise God for those who were saved and added to the church in our worship services today.

I plan to begin a new series next week that I will call “Real Church.” The first message will be on “Real Worship” from John 4:21-24.

The college football system began with a bang this weekend. USC defeated Minnesota 19-17. You can unfairly sanction us, but you cannot keep the Trojans down!

Happy Labor Day! Be safe. Have fun. God bless.

Midyear Tune-Up Tonight at Shiloh

The Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church family will meet together for its Midyear Tune-Up Service tonight at 7 PM.

We will praise God together for all that he is done for us – personally and corporately – during the first half of 2011. And we will pray for God’s guidance, strength, and favor for the second half of the year.

Our guest speaker will be Dr. A.B. Sutton, Jr., who is the Pastor-Teacher of the Living Stones Temple in Birmingham, Alabama.

If you do not have a commitment at your church, please join us for this for this special time of worship. Or join us online at www.smbcjax.com.

Ministry Emphasis Day 2011 at SMBC

This Sunday is Ministry Emphasis Day at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. And I can’t wait!

One of the key factors in my spiritual growth over the years has been the responsibility to serve others that I have been entrusted with. The fact that I am called to serve has been a God-given and built-in means of accountability in my spiritual walk. And I do not want my congregation to miss this important means of spiritual growth.

Mark it down. To come to church and be ministered to week-after-week without ministering to others stunts your growth. What happens if you keep eating without exercising?

So we will be encouraging our members this Sunday to get off the bench and into the game. Representatives from our various ministry programs will be set up around our campus. And we are encouraging our members to hang around after the services to get information, ask questions, and get plugged into a place of service. We will also have listings opportunities to serve members can participate in without making a long-term commitment to a particular program.

I am really looking forward to Sunday. I plan to preach on the greatest reason I know why we should serve one another: Jesus was a servant! In John 13:1-17, Jesus gives us an example to servanthood to follow and even announces divine blessings on those who obey his call to service.

Our volunteers make it happen at Shiloh. We are able to do what we do because of their faithful service. But we still have a long way to go. And I trust that or Ministry Emphasis Day will be a step in the right direction that reminds us that we are saved to serve. May Shiloh increasing become a culture of servanthood that encourages our members to join in the great adventure of Christian service.

My prayer is that 1 Peter 4:10-11 would be fulfilled in and through the body-life of SMBC: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies – in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (ESV)

Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church History Video

Speaking @ St. Thomas in Jacksonville

I am speaking tonight for Pastor Ernie Murray at the St. Thomas Baptist Church tonight. This will be my second year participating in their Holy Week Revival. We had a great time of worship last year. And I am looking forward to tonight's service.

The service starts at 7 PM at 5863 Moncrief Road. Our mass choir will lead the musical praise. And I am to bring the message.

Please pray God's blessings in this service tonight.

And remember Shiloh's Good Friday Service is scheduled for tomorrow at 12 PM. Join us or watch online at www.smbcjax.com.

Notes from Sunday - 2/28/10

Today was Ministry Emphasis Day 2010 at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church.

Our worship services today were meant to challenge the church to get plugged into a place of Christian service. There was also a ministry fair to give our members an opportunity to learn more about our ministries and to get involved.

Our theme for today was “Get Plugged In.” I planned to say this to members I greeted today. However, many of the members I chatted with today were people I recognized to be already serving in some area of ministry. Praise God! And may their tribe increase!

Thanks to all our ministry leaders and teams for being on your post today. You make it happen. And I thank God for you.

I media team prepared a video that featured some of the members and ministries who are actively involved in the body life of the church. Thanks, guys, for your service.

As always, I was grateful and glad for all of the guests who were in worship with us this morning.

Our Youth Choir and Young Adult Ensemble led the musical praise today. They did a great job. I am greatly encouraged by their progress under the leadership of Reggie Bass.

The youth choir sung “I Belong to God” this morning. This is an “old school” gospel song that the youth choir used to sing when I was in it years ago. (I am getting old!)

I preached from 1 Peter 4:10-11 today. I labeled the message, “Serve One Another.’ My goal was simply to explain the priority of Christian service and challenge the membership to serve one another.

My sermon was actually the third message I selected for this morning. The first half of the week I worked on a passage from the Gospel of John. The second half of the week I worked on a message from Message. I finally landed on a message from 1 Peter. Go figure.

I was preoccupied with the clock today, for some reason.

Next Sunday’s Sermon: “The Cost of Discipleship” (Luke 9:57-62).

Praise the Lord for all of those who were saved and added to the church in our worship services today.

Many of the members were still rejoicing today from the ministry of the word this past Wednesday by Dr. John R. Adolph of the Antioch Baptist Church of Beaumont, TX. The entire Wednesdays in the Word series was a great blessing!

The kids had a late night last night, hanging out with the men of Shiloh at the Monster Truck Show. Apparently, Monster Trucks are a big theme here in Jacksonville. The football arena was sold out. Thanks P. Wesley for letting the kids tag along.

While I was typing these notes, George Hurtt sent me a text that he was having dinner with John Piper – Yes, that John Piper – who spoke to at Mt. Sinai this evening. I am officially a hater tonight!!!

John R. Adolph Speaking at Shiloh Tonight

Tonight brings to an end our Wednesdays in the Word 2010 series at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church.

Over the past three weeks, we have been challenged and encouraged by the faithful preaching of Ralph Douglas West, Joel C. Gregory, and William C. Curtis.

Our guest speaker will be Dr. John R. Adolph, senior pastor of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Beaumont, Texas.

I have known Pastor Adolph for more than 10 years. We met as we preached together for his uncle. I have been greatly encouraged to watch the Lord’s hand on his life and ministry over the years.

God is doing great things through Pastor Adolph’s ministry within his local church and around the country. And I am excited to introduce him to the Shiloh Church family tonight.

If you are in the Jacksonville area – and your local church does not have a meeting scheduled – please join us for worship tonight at Shiloh at 7 PM. If you are not able to attend, join us only at www.smbcjax.com.

Pray for us.

God bless.

Praying Through The Lord's Prayer

We have a new monthly prayer meeting at Shiloh that I am calling the "Kingdom-Focused Prayer Meeting."

During this prayer meeting, it is my goal that we would focus on prayer for kingdom, spiritual, eternal matters, not just personal matters. Of course, there is nothing wrong with praying about personal matters. You ought to pray about everything. But we often error by praying mainly for matters of health and finances and the like, without concentrating on the things of God in our prayers.

I am guilty of this myself. And I need this prayer meeting just as much as the congregation does that I may learn to pray more intentionally and strategically for the spread of the gospel, the health of the church, and the advance of the kingdom of heaven.

During this month's prayer meeting, we prayed through the petitions of the Lord's Prayer. I was moved to do this after reading Martin Luther's A Simple Way to Pray, translated and edited by Dr. Archie Parrish. It was Luther's practice to regularly pray through the Ten Commandments, The Lord's Prayer, and the Apostle's Creed. He did not just recite them. He would pray through them, seeking God that the implications of these truths to be fleshed out.

I prepared a guide for our last prayer meeting to help us pray through the Lord's Prayer. Here it is. May you find it helpful in your times of prayer.

Our Father in Heaven: We praise God for adopting us into his family through Jesus' blood and righteousness and for giving us access to him through Christ.

Hallowed be Your Name: We pray that God's holy name would be glorified by our worship, our commitment to the truth, and our obedience to him.

Your Kingdom Come: We pray for the salvation of the lost in Jacksonville and around the world and for the church to influence the culture for Christ as "salt" and "light."

Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven: We pray for submission to the authority of God's word, for understanding of the truth, and for divine help to observe all that the Lord commands us to do.

Give us this day our daily bread: We pray for provision for our needs, for wisdom for our governmental leaders, and for greater concern and generosity toward the poor.

Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors: We pray that the Lord would grant us to respond to our guilt with repentance and to respond to the offenses of others with mercy.

And lead us not into temptation: Grant us spiritual wisdom, diligence in prayer, and devotion to Christ that we may avoid sin and error.

But deliver us from evil: Pray for God's protection for our families, for Shiloh, and for our city, for greater confidence in the faithfulness of God, and for the hope of heaven to fill our hearts.

Shiloh's 2009 Holy Week Schedule

A Change of Plans for Tonight's Service

Dr. Ralph Douglas West of the The Church Without Walls of Houston (TX) was scheduled to be the guest speaker for the closing night of Wednesdays in the Word revival here at the Shiloh Church of Jacksonville. Unfortunately, Dr. West will not be able to be with us tonight. There were other matters that he needed to give his attention to. And he asked that we would remember him in our prayers. Of course, we do and will continue to cover in believing prayer. And we look forward to him being with us at some later day in the future, God willing.

But there is a "ram in the bush." My friend and brother, Dr. Maurice Watson of the Beulahland Church of Macon/Warner Robbins (GA) has agreed to "pinch hit" for us tonight. Dr. Watson is one of my favorite preachers. And I deeply appreciate his willingness to step in tonight to be our guest speaker. I am confident that the Lord is going to bless us richly tonight through the ministry of the word.

As always, if your congregation does not have anything scheduled tonight that you should attend, feel free to join us at Shiloh for worship tonight at 7 PM. And if you are not able to attend, you can worship with us through our internet broadcast of tonight's service through our church website or Streaming Faith.

Pray for us.

Wednesdays in the Word Continues - Dr. Gary Williams

Tonight, we will continue our Wednesdays in the Word Revival at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville.

Dr Reginald Terry and Dr. William Curtis blessed our hearts in a great way the past two weeks.

And we are honored to have Dr. Gray Williams, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Mandarin here in Jacksonville, as our guest speaker tonight.

The service begins at 7 PM (EST). If possible, drop and join us for worship. If not, catch us online through the ShilohJax.com or Streaming Faith.

Pray for us.

God bless.

Wednesdays in the Word Continues Tonight with Dr. William Curtis

By God's kind providence and gracious favor, our Wednesdays in the Word revival got off to a really good start last week. The Lord used Dr. Reginald Terry in a great way to minister to our congregation. His message was encouraging and faith-building - just what our congregation needed.

Tonight, this special series of services will continue at 7 PM. Our guest speaker tonight will be Dr. William Curtis of the Mt. Ararat Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Curtis, who is also the president of the historic Hampton's Minister's Conference, is a gifted and faithful preacher.

My own faithful walk and ministry work have been greatly blessed through this man of God's ministry. And I am honored and grateful that he will be with us tonight to minister to the SMBC family.

If your are in the Jacksonville area, and your own congregation does not have services scheduled tonight, we invite you to join us for worship tonight. If you are able to attend, you can catch the service online through the Shiloh Church website or through Streaming Faith.

Pray for us.

P.S. - Thanks for all the kind birthday wishes!

God bless.

Ray Scott Concert at Shiloh Tonight

One of the young men of Shiloh Church, Ray Scott, will be in concert in our main auditorium tonight at 7 PM. Ray is a faithful member of our congregation, a diligent participant of our music department and worship team, and a gifted and talented singer.

Tonight's concert is in anticipating of ray's upcoming CD release. He will perform music from the upcoming recording, as well as other worship music.

Please pray for tonight's service. If you are able, join us. Or you can watch the concert live through our Streaming Faith feed.

Notes from My 1st Sunday as Pastor @ Shiloh Church

One big weekend in my life was followed by another big weekend. After spending my final weekend as pastor of Mt. Sinai, this was my first weekend with my new congregation - Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church.

I got very little sleep Saturday night. I was thinking and praying about Sunday morning. I chatted with several prayer partners. I even watched a little boxing (Sugar Shane wins by KO at 2:59 minutes of the 12th round. Wow!). I only got a couple of hours of sleep. But I was not sleepy at all when it was time for me to get up. I was refreshed, focused, and ready for the day.

Saturday night, Natalie's temperature to shoot up past 102. She was not feeling well. Sunday morning, Crystal didn't complain of a headache as the did the night before. But her temperature was past 103. We decided that she needed to go the hospital.

So I finished getting ready to go preach, while Crystal got ready to take Natalie to the hospital. One problem. We didn't really know where to take her. We live near a hospital, but we called and they did not had a pediatrics desk. So we planned for Crystal to take her downtown to the hospital that we had seen on the freeway as went to church.

Crystal was only in the hospital for a few hours. She and Natalie went home with instructions for rest and medication. By early evening, Natalie was feeling much better. Thank you so much for your prayers.

I felt uncomfortable not having Crystal, Natalie, and Hailey in church with me. It was weird.

Trey went to church with me. He kept wanting to know what I was so nervous. Funny.

The members of Shiloh were very kind and encouraging. I am very grateful. I know that the Lord could have sent me anywhere. He could have sent me to a place where preaching is out of season. He could have sent me to a place where there are major doctrinal errors to be corrected. He could have sent me to a cold, unloving church. Praise God for the fact that he has sent me to serve a church that is sound in its doctrine and loving in its fellowship. What a blessing!

I preached on the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, recorded in Matthew 28:16-20. I have absolutely no gauge for how the sermon went. The whole day was somewhat surreal for me. But I know that the Lord had placed that message on my heart to preach. I have a burden that God would we would be intentionally and persistently faithful to what the Lord Jesus has commanded the church to be and do.

For some reason, Sunday was a stark reminder to me that I am still a young preacher who has so much to learn and so much growing to do. May the Lord help me to live 2 Timothy 2:15.

I am still figuring things out. Matters of time, flow of service, and church culture, and congregational patterns are still new to me. And I need to just give myself some time to figure things out. I hope Shiloh will be (or remain) patient with me during these opening weeks of my ministry.

By the way, I can't wait to get back to the pulpit this Wednesday and next Sunday to preach to Shiloh some more.

When I got home, I couldn't relax for some reason. But I received a text message from Los Angeles, informing me that Mt. Sinai would need a new roof, because George had preached the roof off the joint. And that was just 8 AM service! I was glad to here it. I had been much in prayer that the Lord would bless the day of worship at Mt. Sinai and that the Lord would use George to preach in a great way. Thank God for answered prayers. After receiving this news, I soon laid down for my afternoon nap.

As you probably already know, the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Washington Redskins 26-24. There will be no perfect season for us. But nothing can stop the stampede. On to the Superbowl!

The Jacksonville Jaguars needed an overtime field goal to barely a victory against the (hapless) Houston Texans 30-27. They are not 2-2 on the season. But who's counting?

How serious are Shiloh members about football? When I was leaving the building, I saw men in the hall wearing Jaguars jerseys, carrying the suits they had worn to church on hangers. Straight to the game! I am not mad at them.

One more thing. I am very excited about the days to come. I pray and believe and expect God to do great things for his glory in us and through us as we serve the Lord together as pastor and people at the Shiloh Church.

My First Night in our New Home

Lido and I made it safely to Jacksonville yesterday afternoon. Pastor Letson took us to the house. And I prepared myself for worship. An hour or so later, I drove myself to church for the first time. If Jacksonville's rush hour was any reflection of what I experienced last night, driving here will be a breeze in comparison to Los Angeles.

I went down to the main auditorium about thirty minutes for the worship service to check on something. I went another route back to the study and got lost. Thankfully, I bumped into one of the staff members in the lobby who led me back to the study. I can be clueless at times.

The service was a blessing. I preached from Psalm 119:9-16 - "How to Clean Up Your Life." I am still getting adjusted to preaching to a new congregation on a weekly basis. And it has been somewhat difficult for me in making some adjustments. But time will fix that. Likewise, after next week, I will not be getting up to preach on Wednesday after getting off a plane. My body is worn out. I can really feel it when I was preaching last night.

I am quickly falling in love with Shiloh Church. I am meeting a lot of loving people who are embracing me so warmly. I know that it doesn't have to be this way. I am very grateful.

I got totally lost on my way home from church last night. It took me an hour, with much help, to make it to the house. I found my little GPS gadget in one of the boxes this morning. Hopefully, this won't happen again.

Last night was my first night in our new home. I passed out as soon as I laid down.

Crystal and the kids are on their way here today. They have an afternoon flight and will get in this evening. Please remember them in your prayers that the Lord would grant them safe passage here.

Thanks, again, for all of your prayers, acts of kindness, and encouragements during this time of transition in our lives. God bless.